It has been revealed why Frank Lampard omitted N'Golo Kante and Mason Mount from the Chelsea squad to face Wolves. The 44-year-old was appointed as the Blues' caretaker manager on Thursday afternoon and he's already had to make some controversial decisions.
The west London outfit have several significant fixtures in the calendar this month, with two-legs against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, a trip to Brighton and a visit to the Emirates Stadium. While Lampard will be desperate to lead a late – and ambitious – charge for top-four, a European qualification place looks out of sight so he appears to be prioritising a cup run.
Kante has only recently returned from a hamstring injury which he picked up in August. The 32-year-old enjoyed a brief cameo off the bench against Aston Villa before leading Chelsea out against Liverpool with the captain's armband.
READ MORE: What Frank Lampard has already said on Mason Mount, Kai Havertz & Graham Potter underperformers
With a clash against Real Madrid just around the corner, Lampard admitted that Kante is just being rested. As quoted by Fabrizio Romano, the Blues boss also claimed that he's "protecting a couple of the players in the squad".
Noni Madueke, Hakim Ziyech and Carney Chukwuemeka were also omitted from the Chelsea squad to face Wolves at Molineux. Mount, on the other hand, is said to be injured; according to The Athletic, he's suffered an aggravation of a previous knock.
The Cobham graduate has been nursing an abdomen injury recently, having last played for the Blues in February. Mount was pictured in training as normal this week ahead of the clash with Wolves, but he is believed to have sustained the setback on Friday.
Ahead of the tie against Julen Lopetegui's side, Lampard addressed Mount's uncertain future at the club. The 24-year-old sees his contract at Stamford Bridge expire at the end of the next season and negotiations over a new deal have proven difficult.
"I don't know enough about it to talk about it and I think it would be wrong for me to delve into anything other than, Mason has always been a fantastic player for me from my days at Derby," said Lampard. "The impact he had there to when I came back to Chelsea. It's with absolute pleasure that I've watched him amongst others that I coached in that period, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and [Fikayo] Tomori to have gone on to be huge players here or elsewhere.
"That's great but with Mason I know he's had a few slight injury problems, so I understand, it will be important to speak to him. I know what I get from Mason, so I just want to see him perform on the pitch. We have a good relationship so we'll talk a lot, I think he's a huge player for Chelsea and has been in his time here, so I look forward to talking to him more."
READ NEXT:
Confirmed Chelsea starting lineup vs Wolves as Lampard starts Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount out
Frank Lampard has already promised what he won't do again at Chelsea
Wolves vs Chelsea LIVE: Confirmed team news as Gallagher starts, Mount and Kante out
Wolves vs Chelsea TV channel, live stream and how to watch Premier League
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: Joao Felix warning, Pep Guardiola message, Carlo Ancelotti plan
